The new year provides an ideal opportunity to shake up routines with fresh new ideas and exciting challenges! Enter: the Wonder League Robotics Competition (WLRC), which offers a creative way to bring coding and collaboration into your classroom, home, or after-school club.
As long as you register by February 14, 2025, you’ll be able to download all of the missions to use as curriculum for the rest of the year.
In this post, we’ll tackle common myths about the WLRC, share real-world insights from a teacher integrating missions into her STEM classrooms, and provide actionable strategies to help you make it your own.
Spoiler alert: WLRC is more flexible and accessible than you might think!
Myth 1: It Takes a Lot of Materials
Fact: All you need is a Dash robot and a Make Wonder subscription to access the missions!
Each mission presents a new story, inviting students to help Dash solve a problem. Many teachers use materials they already have on hand, and we’ve streamlined this year’s content to maximize coding over building, which makes it easy to dive in with little prep. However, for those who want more, the missions offer plenty of ways to extend learning with DIY projects, maker space activities, and cross-curricular connections.
Teacher Tip
The teacher behind the tips: Naomi Meredith is a K-5 STEM teacher who is teaching and adapting the WLRC missions in her classrooms this year.
Create within constraints. When students are building their inventions that align with the mission, you don’t have to have open ended materials. In fact, having a small selection of materials will help students focus on what they DO have and be creative with that limited selection. It also speeds up the building time and helps students get to the programming of Dash for the mission.
The Building Brick Connectors that come with each new Dash are extremely helpful when building the inventions for each mission. If you’re limited on robots for students to share, add in the element that student designs need to be taken off Dash at the end of class. This will ensure that you have enough robots for students to code with and also ensure designs are even sturdier.
Myth 2: You Need to Finish Every Mission
Fact: While completing missions is fun, it’s not the only way to be a part of the Wonder League. WLRC is more than a competition—it’s a treasure trove of hands-on STEM curriculum you can use at your own pace throughout the winter and spring. Completing missions and submitting evidence qualify you for the Invitational Round, but it’s up to you whether that is a priority for your team.
Once you register, you can download all of the missions to use for the rest of the school year. WLRC is all about the process of problem-solving and teamwork, not the final product. Think journey, not destination.
Myth 3: Students Need to be Expert Coders
Fact: WLRC missions are designed for beginners AND experienced coders. Younger students can explore foundational coding concepts, while older ones can tackle more advanced challenges.
You and your students set the pace. If you get started and realize a stronger foundation in coding would be helpful for your team, there are many resources in the Make Wonder portal to help. For example, you can assign a Coding Pathway to students that covers the very concepts they need to learn. You may also want to jump in and use these missions as a way to introduce your team to coding so they learn by doing.
Teacher Tip
The missions in the WLRC lend themselves to the Design Thinking Process.
- Ask: What problem is the mission try to solve?
- Imagine: Students can discuss and share their ideas on how they would build and code to solve the problem
- Plan: Students work together in teams to draw their prototype they will build to help them complete the missions
- Create: Students will build to create a design that will help Dash solve the problem when coding in the mission
- Experiment & Improve: Students adjust their designs and fix bugs in code when solving the mission
- Share: Students will take video evidence of their completed work
Myth 4: It’s Best for After School Clubs
Fact: While some coaches run WLRC as after-school programs, it’s also a fantastic addition to your regular school day.
The missions are versatile and can easily be integrated into your classroom routine—whether as part of a coding unit, activities in a STEM lab, or even team-building exercises. Winter is a great time to start, offering students a fun and interactive way to apply coding and problem-solving skills in a collaborative format.
Teacher Tip
When teaching the missions in class instead of an after school club, consider splitting up the challenges amongst grade levels. You can have all of your students work on different parts of the WLRC, take videos from each grade level, and even turn in the evidence if you’re able to finish. For example:
- Mission 1: 2nd Grade
- Mission 2: 3rd Grade
- Mission 3: 4th Grade
- Mission 4: 5th Grade
Myth 5: It’s Too Advanced for 6 Year Olds
Fact: The Innovator Cup is tailored for 6-8 year olds with age-appropriate challenges, a focus on problem-solving, and the goal of sparking excitement for coding and robotics.
True innovators learn through play, practice, and trying again—mistakes are part of the process. As a coach, you know your students best, so feel free to modify missions to suit their needs and learning levels. If you need ideas, check out Naomi Meredith’s blog post for using Dash with younger students.
Teacher Tip
If your students haven’t had the opportunity to code with Dash yet, take a few days to learn some basics when using Blockly and Dash. This will help students have a basic understanding of how the tools work so they can combine their creativity when working on the missions.
Myth 6: You Have to Compete in Person
Fact: The WLRC is fully virtual, no travel required! Your team can participate from anywhere in the world and missions are easily accessible in the Make Wonder portal.
Work at your own pace and time zone, whether during school, after school, or at home. All mission submissions, coach support, and award ceremonies are completely virtual. Simply upload your evidence in the WLRC portal!
Why Now?
The second semester can feel long, but it’s also a golden opportunity. Students are settled, schedules have fewer interruptions, and they’re ready for a new challenge. WLRC is an excellent way to keep them engaged, curious, and inspired for the remainder of the school year.
Access to Make Wonder and WLRC Registration
Registration is included in your paid Make Wonder subscription, so you can take full advantage of the benefits you already have. If you’re currently a paid subscriber, you can register for the WLRC in the Make Wonder portal. Check out this blog post for more details on how to get started.
If you don’t have a full subscription to Make Wonder yet, you have some options:
- STEM Coach Subscription: This is an excellent choice if you already have a Dash robot and your primary goal is to register for the WLRC. Discounted at $49.99 (half price!), you can register, download the missions, and receive all of the benefits of a full Make Wonder subscription through April 30, 2025.
- Make Wonder Classroom and School Subscriptions: Are you looking for a comprehensive coding curriculum and a way to extend the learning beyond the WLRC? This is a great way to explore Make Wonder: focus on WLRC for the rest of the school year, then dive into additional curriculum and tools over the summer so you’re ready to hit the ground running in the fall with a STEM platform you’re already comfortable using.
Register for the 2024-2025 Competition
Learn more about this year’s competition and register today at makewonder.com/robotics-competition.
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